Wills and intestacy

A will gives you the freedom to decide how you want to pass on your assets. It can be essential in providing for your dependants and is a useful tool in inheritance tax planning.

If you die without a will - known as ‘intestate' - your estate is distributed according to intestacy law. This means you will have no control over who gets what.

How an estate is distributed without a will in England and Wales

The rules changed on 1 October 2014.

Married couples and civil partners with children - your spouse will inherit the first £250,000 (this includes all personal possessions).

Anything above £250,000 is divided in 2 with the spouse getting life interest on 50% and the rest split between the children when they are 18.

Married couples and civil partners without children - the surviving spouse inherits 100% of the estate. These rules apply if you are separated but not if you are divorced.

Unmarried couples with children - a surviving partner has no automatic right to inherit if their partner dies without a will. If they have children, the children will receive all of the estate when they are 18.

Single people - or those who are unmarried - without children have their estates distributed to surviving relatives in the following order:1. Parents2. Brothers are sisters3. Grandparents4. Aunts and unclesIf there are no living relatives, the whole estate will pass to the crown.

How an estate is distributed without a will in Scotland

In Scottish law, if you die without making a Will the following procedure applies once debts and other liabilities have been met:

1. Prior rights are settled first

A surviving spouse or civil partner has certain rights over the deceased person's heritable and moveable estate.

Brothers and sisters of any grandparents (on either side) take the whole

Ancestors of intestate remoter than grandparents, on both paternal and maternal sides generation by generation successively take the whole, but if no ancestors survive in any generation their brothers and sisters come before ancestors of the next more remote generation

Finally, the Crown takes the whole

Three general rules apply to this order of succession:

There is no preference for males, or in regard to age

The children of any deceased relative who would have been entitled to the whole or any part of the intestate estate can take equally among them the share which their deceased parent would have received

Brothers and sisters or ancestors of the deceased, whether of full blood or half blood, are entitled to succeed but those of the full blood have preference.

This information is based on our understanding of current legislation, which may change in the future. The FCA does not regulate certain tax planning activities and services, will writing or advice on charitable giving.

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